Georgia-Based Community Bank Becomes 20th Failure This Year

WASHINGTON — The Community Bank, a $681 million-asset institution in Loganville, Ga., became the industry's 20th failed bank of the year.

The closure was also the year's third failure — and the second in less than a month — in Georgia, which has been hit hard by the real estate downturn.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., appointed by state regulators as the bank's receiver, said Virginia-based Bank of Essex agreed to assume all of Community's $611 million in deposits. The $383 million-asset bank in Tappahannock, Va., paid a $3.2 million deposit premium, and agreed to buy roughly $84.4 million of The Community Bank's assets.

The FDIC said the failure is estimated to cost the Deposit Insurance Fund between $200 million and $240 million.

Other recent Georgia failures include the Oct. 24 collapse of $354.1 million-asset Alpha Bank and Trust, and the Aug. 29 failure of $1.1 billion-asset Integrity Bank. Both were located in Alpharetta.